Cross Cultural Study on Behavioral Intention Formation in Knowledge Sharing*

The implementation of Knowledge Management Systems does not guarantee knowledge sharing within organizations because knowledge sharing cannot be mandated. Although previous investigations have attempted to identify the motivational factors that facilitate knowledge sharing, the results of these studies cannot be easily applied across organizations due to the highly context‐specific nature of knowledge sharing. Societal culture, as well as organizational culture, affects knowledge sharing behavior. This is why successful knowledge sharing initiatives in the United States, for example, may prove ineffective in another country with a very different culture like China. Therefore, it is clearly important to understand the effects of different societal cultures on individuals’ knowledge sharing behaviors. The principal objective of this study is to deepen our understanding about the impact of national culture on an individual's knowledge sharing intention. In order to achieve this goal, field data was collected from 197 employees from a variety of companies and organizations in two countries-Sweden and China. In a collectivistic culture such as China, anticipated reciprocal relationships have been shown to directly affect individuals’ attitudes toward knowledge sharing, and the organizational climate has also been shown to affect subjective norms to a significant degree. Subjective norms can influence intentions to share knowledge indirectly through attitudes. In the highly individualistic culture of Sweden, one’s sense of self‐worth and anticipated reciprocal relationships have been shown to profoundly affect individuals’ attitudes towards knowledge sharing. In both countries, anticipated extrinsic rewards have been shown to exert no detectable effects on respondents' knowledge sharing attitudes, and subjective norms and organizational climate have been de-